Lu spoke at the second joint meeting of the China-ROK investment coordinating committee.

China will double its Gross Domestic Product by 2020 and the country is expected to grow into the second largest market in the world, Lu said.

In some fields, such as mobile phones and telecommunication, expressway construction, automobile and information technology industry, China has become the most important market, Lu said.

The import volume of China will hit US$340 billion to 350 billion in 2003, he said.

Since China and the ROK established diplomatic ties 11 years ago bilateral trade has progressed at an unprecedented growth rate.

Statistics from the Chinese Customs indicate that China-ROK trade volume was about 44 billion US dollars in 2002 and surged at a growth rate of over 40 percent in the first five months of this year.

With this momentum, Lu said, the 100 billion US dollars bilateral trade volume is a "very encouraging" and "very practical" goal.

ROK Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Yoon Jin-shik said in the meeting that the ROK and China had witnessed fruitful progress in investment and trade. China has become one of the ROK's most important investment destinations.

The increasing mutual investment is important for the two country's economic development and economic cooperation in northeast Asia as well, Yoon said.

The ROK and China share great potential for further cooperation in the fields of power development, logistic and information industry, Yoon said.

The two sides also exchanged views on some other economic issues during the meeting.

The committee, aimed to promote and coordinate mutual investment between China and the ROK, was initiated in 2000 and its first joint meeting was held in 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2003)